Jews Prohibited to Work in Nazi-held Baltic Countries; Properties Confiscated

Jews in the Nazi-held Baltic countries are no longer permitted to engage in any work, except if they are specialists needed for German industry, the Tidningen, a leading Swedish newspaper reports today.

The report states that the Nazi authorities in Riga and other Baltic cities have cancelled all the labor permits held by Jews. New permits are being issued to the Jewish specialists under regulations that their non-Jewish employers are to pay their salaries to the local administration and not to the Jewish employees directly. The administration, on the other hand, is to pay to the qualified Jewish workers only part of the sum which their employers have deposited for them.

At the same time that they deprived Jews of their right to work, the Nazi authorities in Riga and other Baltic cities confiscated all Jewish property, leaving to each Jewish family not more than 100 marks in cash and a few of their personal belongings. The death penalty has been announced for Jews who attempt to leave the ghetto in Riga without permission.